add rich snippets in wordpress

December 1, 2022

Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Rich Snippets in WordPress

Do you want to add rich snippets on your WordPress site?

Rich snippets allow you to have custom search listings for special content such as reviews, recipes, events, and more. These search listings will stand out and help get more traffic to your site.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add rich snippets to your WordPress site, step by step.

Beginner's guide: how to use rich snippets in WordPress

Why Use Rich Snippets on Your WordPress Site?

Rich snippets use what’s called schema markup to provide extra information about your content to the search engines.

The search engine bots use this data to show additional information about your posts and pages in the search results.

This helps to make your posts and pages stand out more in the search results, which can improve your organic click through rate and help you increase your blog traffic.

It also helps you build authority in your niche, as your site becomes more visible in the search.

Rich snippets are not just for review sites or recipes. You can use rich snippets for events, products, people, video, music, apps, articles, blog posts, and more.

Note: It’s important to know that adding schema markup to your website doesn’t guarantee that Google will display it. Google may choose not to for some searches. However, adding the schema markup helps Google to understand your content and makes it much more likely to display rich snippets.

That being said, let’s show you how to add rich snippets to WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

Adding rich snippets in WordPress with a WordPress plugin (Recommended)
Adding rich snippets in WordPress by adding code to WordPress

Method 1. Adding Rich Snippets in WordPress Using a WordPress Plugin

The easiest way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by using the AIOSEO plugin. It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin in the market, used by over 3+ million websites.

It helps you easily optimize your site for search engines without the need to hire an SEO expert. Plus, you can set up rich snippets on your site in a couple of clicks.

Note: You’ll need the pro version of AIOSEO since it includes schema markup functionality and other features like XML sitemaps, a redirection manager, and more. There is a free version of the plugin you can use to get started.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll immediately be taken to the AIOSEO setup wizard. You need to click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.

Click let's get started AIOSEO setup wizard

If the setup wizard doesn’t immediately show up, then simply go to All in One SEO » Dashboard.

From here, you can click the ‘Launch the Setup Wizard’ button. This will walk you through the steps of setting up the plugin for your website.

As you go through the setup wizard, you’ll need to activate the ‘Advanced Rich Snippets + Schema Markups’ addon.

Simply check the box so that it turns blue, then click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.

Active rich snippets and schema markup addon

On the final screen, you need to enter your license key and then click the ‘Connect’ button.

You can find this information under your account page on the AIOSEO website.

For more details, see our ultimate guide on how to set up AIOSEO for WordPress correctly.

After that, you can go to AIOSEO » Search Appearance in your WordPress admin panel, and then click on the ‘Content Types’ tab.

Go to AIOSEO search appearance and click content types

Then, you can set the schema markup type for your posts and pages.

Simply click the ‘Schema Markup’ menu option, then you can choose the schema type from the drop-down.

You will be able to see different content types that you can create with the plugin. The list includes:

Course
Product
Recipe
Software/App
FAQ
Web page
Profile
Article

Clicking on any content type will show you the fields that will be available.

These settings will be the default settings when you add a new blog post. However, you can change these on an individual post basis too.

Below the post schema markup, you can also control the default schema for your pages.

Simply select the ‘Schema Type’ from the drop-down. Then, you’ll have additional options for the schema type you select.

Once you’re finished making changes, click the ‘Save Changes’ button before you leave the page.

Adding Rich Snippet Information to Your Posts and Pages

Now, you can add schema information to your individual posts and pages, so they’ll display with unique rich snippets in the search results.

To do this, simply open up a blog post and scroll down below the post editor. Here you’ll see a meta box called ‘AIOSEO Settings’.

You need to click the ‘Schema’ tab and then click on the ‘Generate Schema’ button.

Click the Generate Schema button in AIOSEO

This will open up the Schema Catalog. Simply click the ‘Add Schema’ button next to the type of schema you want to add.

Choose a schema type from the Schema Catalog

Now, there will be different fields available to fill out, based on the option you select. For example, the ‘Software’ schema type includes fields for the name, operating system, price, description, review, and more.

Post schema markup for software application

Once you’re finished, click the ‘Add Schema’ button. Don’t forget to click ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the post to save your changes as well.

Adding schema markup to individual WordPress pages is similar. You need to open up the page you want to edit and then scroll down to the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ meta box below the page editor.

Then, click the ‘Schema’ menu option, click the ‘Generate Schema’ button, and select your page schema type from the Schema Catalog.

Different options will appear depending on the type of schema you select.

Just like above, when you’re finished, you need to click the ‘Add Schema’ button and hit ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the page to make your changes live.

Adding rich snippet information won’t make a difference on the front end of your WordPress blog. However, you’ll be giving the search engine bots extra data to display with your posts and pages in the search results.

Method 2. Adding Rich Snippets by Adding Code to WordPress

Another way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by adding code to WordPress. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

Rich snippets or structured data markup can be written into three different vocabularies. These vocabularies are microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD. You can use any of them on your site. However, most beginners find RDFa to be more beginner friendly.

Here is an example of a user’s about page in WordPress. Normally the text of the page will look something like this:

John Smith
<img src="johnsmith.jpg" alt="Photo of John Smith"/>
Support Technician
342 Acme Inc.
101 Washington Avenue
Eagleton IN 98052
(425) 123-4567
<a href="mailto:johnsmith@example.com">johnsmith@example.com</a>
Website:
<a href="http://www.example.com">example.com</a>

This can be easily transformed with rich snippets.

If you are familiar with HTML, then you can easily understand the following example:

<div vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="Person">
  <span property="name">John Smith</span>
  <img src="johnsmith.jpg" property="image" alt="Photo of John Smith"/>
  <span property="jobTitle">Support Technician</span>
  <div property="address"  typeof="PostalAddress">
    <span property="streetAddress">
      342 Acme Inc.
      101 Washington Avenue
    </span>
    <span property="addressLocality">Eagleton</span>,
    <span property="addressRegion">IN</span>
    <span property="postalCode">46818</span>
  </div>
  <span property="telephone">(425) 123-4567</span>
  <a href="mailto:johnsmith@example.com" property="email">johnsmith@example.com</a>
Website
  <a href="http://example.com" property="url">example.com</a>
</div>

For each content type, there are some special properties that need to be defined.

Schema.org is the organization that helps maintain the standard for different content types. You will find extensive documentation with examples for each schema content type on their website.

Here is another example of a recipe with rich snippets.

<div vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="Recipe">
  <span property="name">Mom's World Famous Banana Bread</span>
  By <span property="author">John Smith</span>,
    <img property="image" src="bananabread.jpg"
    alt="Banana bread on a plate" />
  <span property="description">This classic banana bread recipe comes
  from my mom -- the walnuts add a nice texture and flavor to the banana
  bread.</span>
  Prep Time: <meta property="prepTime" content="PT15M">15 minutes
  Cook time: <meta property="cookTime" content="PT1H">1 hour
  Yield: <span property="recipeYield">1 loaf</span>
  Ingredients:
  - <span property="recipeIngredient">3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed</span>
  - <span property="recipeIngredient">1 egg</span>
  - <span property="recipeIngredient">3/4 cup of sugar</span>
  ...
  Instructions:
  <span property="recipeInstructions">
  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix in the ingredients in a bowl. Add
  the flour last. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for one hour.
  </span>
</div>

If you are manually adding rich snippets into your WordPress posts, then you will need to manually add HTML to WordPress. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to edit HTML in WordPress code editor.

You may also need to refer to Google’s Developer resource on structured data to understand which properties are required for each content type.

Testing Your Rich Snippets and Schema Markup

If you’re adding rich snippets manually, then you’ll want to make sure you’ve added the structured data to your WordPress website properly.

To check your rich snippets, simply head over to the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. Then, there are two different tests you can run to test your structured data.

First, click the ‘Go to the Rich Results Test’ button. This will see what rich results can be generated for your page.

Then, enter your page or post URL into the box.

Next, click the ‘Test URL’ button.

This will automatically generate a report to see which rich results features can appear when that page or post is listed in the search results.

It will give you any errors or warnings, so you can improve your structured data. You can click the drop-down arrow next to any warning, and you’ll get detailed instructions on how to fix it.

Next, you can test your schema markup by going back to the Google Structured Data Testing Tools page.

Then, click the ‘Go to the Schema Markup Validator’ button.

Next, enter your URL or code snippet into the ‘Test your structured data’ popup.

Then, click the ‘Run Test’ button.

Enter URL or code and test structured data

The tool will automatically analyze your code to see if there are any errors.

You’ll want to see 0 errors on the right-hand side of the page.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use rich snippets on your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to choose the best domain name registrar and our expert picks of the best AI chatbots software for your website.

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The post Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Rich Snippets in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

May 6, 2021July 6, 2023

How to Add FAQ Schema in WordPress (2 Methods)

Do you want to add FAQ schema in WordPress?

Adding FAQ schema can help boost your SEO rankings and organic click-through rate by making your frequently asked questions appear directly in Google’s search results.

In this article, we will show you how to add FAQ schema in WordPress and improve your rankings, step by step.

How to Add FAQ Schema in WordPress (2 Methods)

What Is FAQ Schema?

FAQ schema is a smart markup code, also known as structured data, that you can add to your website pages to help Google identify an FAQ section.

If you add FAQ schema, then Google may choose to reward you with an enhanced search result listing that also shows FAQs directly below the name of your WordPress website.

Here’s an example of an FAQ result. Google shows the questions, and you can click the down arrows to see the answers.

This increased visibility on Google means more traffic to your website. It also makes your blog look like an authority on the subject.

Plus, FAQ schema makes your content more helpful to users who prefer the question-and-answer approach.

With FAQ schema, you have control over the questions and answers. You can customize the content however you like. You can even add emojis to boost your organic click-through rate (CTR).

Your FAQs can also appear in Google’s ‘People also ask’ boxes, which is another potential visibility boost.

These boxes appear for many search queries and offer a list of additional questions, each linked to a website for more information.

FAQ schema can appear in the People Also Ask box

It’s important to note, though, that adding FAQ schema in WordPress will not guarantee that your FAQs appear on Google. However, it will improve your chances of being seen.

FAQ Schema Guidelines

Before adding FAQ schema to your pages and posts, it’s important to understand Google’s content guidelines.

You should only use FAQ schema if your page has a list of questions with answers. If your page only asks one question, then you should use the QA schema instead.

You should not use FAQ schema for advertising purposes or for questions and answers that contain violent, obscene, hateful, dangerous, or illegal language.

If the same question and answer appear multiple times on your page, then it’s important to only add FAQ schema in one instance.

The questions and answers in your FAQs must also appear in the content on your page.

Finally, make sure each question includes the entire text of the question and each answer includes the entire text of the answer.

How to Add FAQ Schema in WordPress

The easiest way to add FAQ schema in WordPress is to install a plugin that handles it for you, but you can also do it without a plugin.

We will cover both options and you can use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use:

Adding FAQ Schema in WordPress With All in One SEO
Adding FAQ Schema in WordPress Without a Plugin
Testing Your WordPress FAQ Schema

Method 1: Adding FAQ Schema in WordPress With All in One SEO

The best way to add FAQ schema in WordPress is with the All in One SEO Pro plugin. It’s the best SEO plugin for WordPress, used by over 3 million sites.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a plugin in WordPress.

Note: There is a free version of All in One SEO available, but you need the premium version to add FAQ schema in WordPress.

Upon activation, the plugin will run a setup wizard. You can follow the on-screen instructions to set it up. If you need more help, then please take a look at our guide on how to properly set up All in One SEO for WordPress.

Once you are done with the setup, you will return to the WordPress dashboard.

You can see a new ‘All in One SEO’ menu item in the admin sidebar.

If you had the free version of All in One SEO installed, then all of your settings will automatically transfer to the Pro version. The free version will be automatically deactivated.

Now that All in One SEO is installed and activated, you need to navigate to the page or post where you would like to add FAQ schema.

Simply scroll down to the bottom of the content editor, where you will see the AIOSEO Settings.

When you click on the ‘Schema’ tab, you can see that the schema settings are automatically enabled by default. Then, you can click on the ‘Generate Schema’ button to customize it.

This will bring up the Schema Catalog, where you can select the type of schema you want to implement.

Next, you need to find the FAQ option and click the ‘Add Schema’ button next to it.

Choose FAQ from the Schema Catalog in AIOSEO

Now, you can start entering your FAQ information.

Start by adding a name and description for your page or post. You can even use AIOSEO’s easy emoji picker to add emojis to these fields.

After that, you should scroll down to start adding the Question and Answer fields for your first FAQ question.

You can also click the ‘Add Another Question’ link to add more questions.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Add Schema’ button.

If you want to test whether your FAQ schema markup is correctly added, then scroll down to our section on how to test your WordPress FAQ schema.

Method 2: Adding FAQ Schema in WordPress Without a Plugin

If you want to add FAQ schema in WordPress without a plugin, then you can do it by using our manual code method.

First, you will need to generate the FAQ schema code. You can do this by using the FAQPage JSON-LD Schema Generator.

Start by adding your questions and answers on the left side of the tool. You can click ‘Add Another FAQ’ to add as many questions as needed.

As you type, the schema markup will update on the right.

Your next step is to paste the code you just created into WordPress. Simply click ‘Copy FAQ Schema’ to copy the code.

After that, navigate to the page or post where you want to add the FAQ schema.

If you are using the block editor, then you need to add a Custom HTML block and paste the FAQ schema markup inside that.

If you are still using the old classic editor, then you need to toggle to the text editor.

After that, you can paste the schema markup at the bottom of your post.

When you are finished, just click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to save your changes.

Testing Your WordPress FAQ Schema

Since your FAQ schema code is specifically for Google, you can’t tell whether it’s working just by looking at your page.

To test whether your FAQ schema markup is correct, you can use Google’s Rich Results Test page. Simply enter the URL of the page with FAQ schema and click ‘Test URL’.

Google will analyze your page for all kinds of schema markup, not just FAQ schema. You may see multiple results if your page uses other kinds of schema.

Once the text is complete, expand the results under the “FAQ” heading.

You should see the actual question-and-answer pairs that you added to your FAQ section. If these are correct, then you are all set.

If they aren’t correct, then you will need to go back and double-check that you set up your FAQ schema properly.

If the correct items still aren’t showing, then we recommend clearing your WordPress cache because caching plugins may show an outdated version of your content to Google.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily add FAQ schema in WordPress. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide to boost your rankings and our expert picks for the best social media plugins for WordPress.

The post How to Add FAQ Schema in WordPress (2 Methods) first appeared on WPBeginner.